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Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland has pointed to team
inexperience and defended captain Ricky Ponting and the selectors
following the Ashes series loss to England.

Sutherland said on Monday CA would conduct a review of the
series, but he doesn't expect any sweeping changes.

He pointed to the relative inexperience of the team and said
ebbs and flows in form had to be expected in a rebuilding
phase.

Ponting became only the second Australian captain to lead his
country to two Ashes losses on England soil, with Australia also
dropping from first to fourth on the world Test rankings.

Australian selectors, led by chairman Andrew Hilditch, have been
slammed for the decision to leave spinner Nathan Hauritz out of the
line-up for the fifth and deciding Test on the dry, spin-friendly
Oval pitch.

But Sutherland said any call for Ponting's sacking would be
"completely unfair".

"Ricky's had a very, very good series," he said.

"He's been under incredible pressure ... I thought the dignity
and poise that he showed in defeat was something that all
Australians should be very proud of."

He said that disappointed fans would look for someone to blame,
but he didn't believe that should lie with the selectors.

"I don't think in any way we can hold the selectors accountable
for us losing the Ashes.

"At the end of the day the players go out and do the business on
the field.

"It was only six or seven months ago that we had a fantastic
series in South Africa where we beat the number one team in the
world with a pretty similar line-up and the selectors were hailed
for their selection and in some way the perceived risks that they
took in backing young talent.

"I think it would be jumping to conclusions ever too quickly to
blame the selectors."

Sutherland questioned whether the failure to select Hauritz cost
Australia the fifth Test as has been suggested.

"We've lost the game by 200 runs which is a pretty significant
defeat and having a spinner in the side wouldn't have helped us in
the first innings when we were bowled out for 160 and effectively
lost the game."

He said he felt Australia's inexperience contributed to the
loss.

"I don't think we're under any illusions as to where this team's
at, we're definitely in a rebuilding phase after losing some of the
best players to ever play cricket for Australia.

"What you get with a young and relatively inexperienced team is
some ebbs and flows in performance.

"Our best cricket was very, very good and our not so good
cricket perhaps in a couple of critical moments were perhaps why we
let the Ashes slip."

Cricket Australia is planning to make at least one of the
three-man selection panel full-time, and Sutherland said there
would be no increased role for the captain and coach in selection
matters.

"One of the things we've had as a fundamental is that selectors
have always been independent of the coach and the captain ... and I
don't think the board's position has changed from that.

"In the cold hard light of day we'll review the series and get a
better understanding of what went right and wrong.

"I'm not expecting any issues with selection, we left that
responsibility with selectors and the board is comfortable with the
role they've played over time."

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